close harmony

American  

[klohs] / kloʊs /

noun

Music.

1. harmony in which the voices, excluding the bass, occur within an octave or, sometimes, within the interval of a tenth.

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close harmony British  

/ kləʊs /

noun

1. a type of singing in which all the parts except the bass lie close together and are confined to the compass of a tenth

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Etymology

Origin of close harmony

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

The mix of working in close harmony, but entirely individually, chimed with McMurtry.

From BBC • Mar. 17, 2024

But “Mr. Tambourine Man” offers an early showcase of the flair for close harmony singing that would define much of Crosby’s work over the decades to come.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 19, 2023

Singing close harmony in what could almost be a nursery-rhyme melody, they add percussion and synthesizer bass lines over what sounds like marching feet.

From New York Times • Jul. 15, 2022

The vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth realized these different musical styles — Baroque madrigal, Appalachian folk song, Manhattan Transfer-style close harmony, buzzing rock anthem — with ease through amplification.

From Washington Post • Apr. 7, 2019

As we left the Temperant tent, the quartet was singing, in close harmony: .

From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck